Description:
The fate of the world is already set in stone; with the myriad orbs of power already fully activated, time itself shall unravel. There is no question that the ultimate victor shall be Saiki-sama -- no more than there is any question the sun shall rise on another day. That leaves him with finding two things:
Those who threaten Saiki... and those who might be a worthy challenge to the mountainous figure. The former, for his mission. The latter... simple pleasure.
Having peered into the past of countless fighters, Mukai has seen one shadow. One great, supreme presence. He is not the first monster to step foot in this world. Beyond the likes of the Mishima tyrant, the NESTS leader, the one-eyed bandit (Of whom is also on Mukai's list for related reasons)...
Someone who, by those who survived, could only be described as the essence of martial arts.
The essence of martial arts? Hah. What greater test against the forge of Mukai's body? Against a man who is the literal antithesis, taking personal power, an indestructible body, and untold amounts of chi to such a level that he needs nothing of skill, practice, or experience.
And it is with that in mind that Mukai has settled himself upon a small island off Japan's coast. It is a natural source of powerful leylines within the planet, and where the orb had been originally seated. Although now they are all in play, the worth of it's former resting place is very much in hand.
Mukai has prepared thoroughly. Countless, intricate runes are carved into the very stone, concentric circles that expand out to nearly fifty meters. Craggy mountainous furls dredge upwards, curling inwards like the fist of a God about Mukai's nest -- where the black-skinned adonis sits, crosslegged, at the heart of it all.
In the very heart of the Earth, a thrumming call has been going out. It is one easily lost in the storm of battle and chaos that is lost in the world...
And each heavy beat, it is only saying a single word.
Power.
Power...
Power...!
And, above even that... the insinuation that the one so openly broadcasting that energy in the very crust of the Earth... is doing so as if the proverbial king of the Mountain. Stating into the chi of the Earth that Mukai is King...
And daring any other to state otherwise!
Thunder broils in the sky.
Between this world and the next, on the precipice of time itself, every person who is, has, was or ever will be strong has come into the light, each for their own reasons. Some come to preserve a way of life that has persisted for millennia--the arbiters and stewards of the way of things itself. Even his own brother has abandoned coddling his filthy urchins to play with the saboteurs of the world. But in the end, the forces with which they are toying are that of nature itself, a woman whose moods are not to be controlled. The people who have drug themselves from the deep are but grubs from the woodwork, pale squirming things for the bear to savor.
As the last sheets of light fall away from the curls of the grey dark, the light surrounding Mukai, the twisting power from his own runes is bleached out by the crack of lightning in the sky. That same lightning reveals a single set of footprints on the shore of the lonely island, leading inland.
He has no interest in 'time.' This time of fighters will close only when his fist consents. The world will end when Akuma beats her into submission. Saiki is just another name that means nothing to him until his fist finds his body--and rest assured, of those arrayed before him, that is one person he will crush should he fall into his path. Amidst the worthless dross of the Time Spheres and from across Japan, he sensed the strength bleeding from this island, and recognized it for what it was; an open challenge. This time not the incidental one of his weak nymph brother, but a purposeful welling of martial force in the place of the Orb's former rest. A strong person, preparing for war.
It begins to rain.
The storm has come.
Red eyes light up the encroaching dark.
He arrives by knocking down the point of one of the aggressive craggy spires in his path, allowing the fighter in the dark gi to land, solid as the earth beneath, at Mukai's resting place deep in his nest. When he lands, it as if every raindrop is blood. He stands, fire-red hair standing as a crown even against nature's fury. He shouts into the next thunderclap, his voice cutting like the blade of a sword.
"I am the master of the fist...! And I come to cut the throat of the Mountain..."
He says nothing else, tightening the bindings around his hands, and standing firm on straw-woven sandals that have seen miles of travel. He takes that fighting stance, and awaits a response. It is the only discretion he will offer the man; a chance to be a lesser man, and back down before death itself.
COMBATSYS: Akuma has started a fight here.
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Akuma 0/-------/-------|
Ah; Mukai can feel it. The sudden surge of weather is certainly no coincidence. It is like a black star approaches the island; truly, it brings to question for the first time in the massive fighter's life whether Saiki is the pinnacle of the world or not. Yet still, this man... the darkness is forged from a lifetime of endless effort. And it only rivals the lackluster apathy of Saiki, who embraces a level of mastery that transcends physics itself. Time... Time is the one opponent who all must kneel before. Even Akuma himself... will he someday become like Oro, a mere shadow, eternally stagnating?
Rain begins to fall, and each roar and rumble, each flash of lightning, are like the tears and moans of the Earth. There is no surprise at the violent entrance of Akuma, as Mukai lifts his head up to look upon him.
And immediately he grins. The challenge he has sought from this planet... has finally presented itself!!
"You... a great defilement to the natural order..." Mukai unfurls, rising with the solemn, motiveless patience of stone, rising up to his great height. At the moment, he is the lesser of Akuma. That is clear. Yes; even Magaki would likely be struck down. But he knew that, before going into this fight. "Gaea weeps to feel your footsteps on this island. I do not know what made you such a shinigami... but a closed fist is but a petty weapon. The tools of humans, and their attempts at war... all mean nothing before true POWER...!!"
And then Mukai slams his hands into the ground. Suddenly, all of the runes begin to shine immediately. The leylines of the Earth seem to open up, and flood upwards. The air turns black instantly, whirling around in an almost suffocating presence. Stone begins to slather across everything within a hundred meters like ice; although such would likely be of little more bother than the true thing. It is not a true assault...
Merely raw power going wild.
Mukai's body thrums. Each time, his already formidable muscle mass grows larger. The white runes that flash like lightning up his chest and arms begin to pulse brighter and faster, before the entire island begins to quake. A great roar of his own echoes primal into the sky, and lightning begins to crack and thunder in defiance of the two chi's opposite.
"HUMAN... IF YOU EVEN ARE ONE..." Mukai's voice echoes strangely, as within a black and gray mist his form is revealed once more. The lines upon his body are presently bright, glowing white; arcs crackling across him, as he stands at nearly nine feet tall. Little but his form resembles humanoid at this point, Oni-like features holding wild tusks, and his crazed white hair tumbling far down his back.
"SHOW ME YOUR TRUE FANGS..." Arms thrust out in all directions. A great blast of force annihilates the pillars of stone, sending them hurtling with surprising force in all directions, tumbling down the island and ripping through trees, bushes, and the like. It is as if Akuma is standing before the very power of the Earth, Gaea, the Spirits themselves...
What better chance will he ever have to match his fists against the true avatar of primal nature than now...?!
COMBATSYS: Mukai has joined the fight here.
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Akuma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mukai
The titanic earthen warrior who rises before Akuma resembles the form of a man he has seen within his own spirit, within the silence of his deepest meditations at the bottom of the oceans, where no other may reach. It remains to be seen whether that fearsome visage is the end path for all who amass the strength and power arrayed before them. The inevitable end for all who succumb to a true killing intent. The idea isn't something that scares him.
No, the idea of being on the precipice of the volcano compells Akuma deeply.
Akuma is not a man who has the patience of the mountains for the words of men. It is perhaps only for once he grants his consent to hear Mukai's words, for he is sure that he is not facing someone who is a man, and Akuma pays it no more disservice than he might listening to the tumble of rocks down the mountain in a distant landslide. When nature speaks, a wise man listens. But what it says... that is what causes the fighter, who begins to show signs of his age even now, to bare his teeth, a shark-like visage being the only response to Mukai's denigration of the fist. His expression cannot be intuitively read--the only bearing one can get from the master of the fist is limitless rage. Something so pure and clear that it begins to crawl off of him in a red haze.
Even now, as the power of Mukai and the leylines begin to flood the battlefield, Akuma stands resolute. He feels his heart beat faster as energy bales forth into the air, far and beyond any other seen by mortal men. It is like the volcano, the closest thing he could come to a true death match before these darker days. Stone crawls across the ground, layering on stone and earth both until it reaches a few centimeters of Akuma's stance, whereupon it stops--whether by Mukai's will or by Akuma's, it matters little.
"Men are not worthy to wield the fist," Akuma growls, simple and blunt.
He is livid with anticipation, and every bone in his body cries for the chaos of battle in that titanic force rallied against him. Whether he is in agreement with Mukai's sentiment or not is really beyond the point. Instead, the lethal sage holds up his hand, balling his fist until even the whining creak of the tightening rice straw rope that binds his hand is audible over the burgeoning rainfall.
"Unrelenting war will carve the grave of an imposter's 'nature,'" he aggresses.
"And this 'Satsui no Hadou' ... will put you in it."
A surge of chaos wells in the raging demon. Fight.
In the face of that cataclysmic blast, Akuma breaks through a pillar with a single chop of his hand. Then, following one motion neatly with the other, he jumps. At will, Akuma leaps into the sky to an almost impossible height, spinning end over end like an axeblade thrown. Uncurling at the apex of his leap, it is clear he waits not for Mukai in the slightest once he fails to turn and run. Instead, he drops down from the sky onto the titanic warrior, his hand dropping down in an open-palm strike aimed straight down the dome of Mukai's skull. Hyakki Goshou, an attack that would probably kill lesser men in an instant.
For a strength like Mukai's, it is only the beginning!
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Akuma's Hyakki Shuu.
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Akuma 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Mukai
"Oh...? Then we might agree on something. That humanity is an insect... great potential, but wasted on their civilized path...!!" Mukai states, still grinning deeply. He is, surprising to most, a beast of words. His philosophy of power is one not built upon the back of an entity with prodding intelligence and dim awareness. Indeed, he is likely the most long-sighted of the entire group, especially given Saiki's barely goes past his luxurious blinking lashes.
"But this Satsu no Hadou..."
Akuma assaults Mukai in the midst of him speaking. There's no reaction. This is suicide; a master like Gen is required to properly intercept the strike, and such allows no delay for petty words. Yet suddenly there's a flash of black obsidian-like stone, rippling over Mukai's face.
The strike of Akuma's knifehand causes it to crack, splinters of diamond-hard carbon fluttering about. A single line of purple blood runs down Mukai's face, as he thrusts forward with his left arm, aiming to grasp Akuma by the front of his gi.
"It is very similar... to Gaea's blood... and the blood of the great Orochi... how interesting!!"
If he manages to capture the lithe figure, Mukai will roar and twist, aiming to fling him; if such a simple term could be attributed to a force that would probably send Akuma hurtling a few dozen meters in a split second, towards the craggy side of the mountainous peak!!
COMBATSYS: Akuma blocks Mukai's Medium Throw.
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Akuma 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Mukai
There is no time for discussion. Akuma, from his few words, makes it clear that he thinks something--anything, really--of Mukai. He is someone who spends the majority of his time locked in meditation, or training, and controlling the forces that rage within him is not something that one does as an animal--to give oneself over to the Satsui no Hadou is not just to leap blindly into the abyss, but to embrace the nature of chaos itself. A thought did occur to Akuma at one point or another during the course of their brief introduction.
It's only that as long as Akuma can still strike, Mukai will never know.
Words are meaningless in the face of death, and its scything fists.
Akuma's face is locked in a perpetual inhuman and wide-eyed bloodlust of eternal rage, so when he knifehands Mukai in the face with the full intent of splitting him from forehead to pelvis and the only production of the affair is a few chips... even the Master of the Fist can show surprise. His eyes narrow, his rage spikes, and his intentions sharpen. Impressive...!
He is about to put his leg through Mukai's throat when he is gripped by the much larger man and is thrown bodily through the air, the crack of the wind audible as his body tumbles with lethal forces towards the mountain peak. Muscles twist and bend, and suddenly the fighter slams into the side of the peak, impacting it roughly through the balls of his feet. He's standing on the sheer face, impossibly oriented as the force of Mukai drains through his body and into the earth around him. The force cracks the mountain, but the cracks boil over with livid red energy as Akuma continues onward, gripping the energy of the world through his fists. His form is anchored to the side of the peak as he marshals power to him through his stance and his hands. Blood..? His Satsui no Hadou will explain itself.
"Be worthy, or be dead," Akuma hisses. "Shakunetsu...!!"
The rock itself near Akuma's force turns molten as he releases a wave of red fire from his open palms, thrusting forward into the wave-like motion. The power of his Hadou leaves crackling embers floating in its wake, a blistering force capable of incinerating most things it comes across instantly. Even as he throws the blast, he leaps off of the rock face, trailing after it, but advancing on Mukai very, very quickly. As his fighting intent grows, so does the choking force in the air--colliding with Mukai's own, the master will not leave him a breath of space. There can be no mercy for a truly just battle.
COMBATSYS: Mukai overcomes Shakunetsu Hadouken from Akuma with Heavenly Shock.
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Akuma 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Mukai
Death? No. Akuma can tell at a glance. This is not a creature who fears it. Such is rare... when it is genuine. It is not from ignorance, or from some sheer arrogance due to his own personal power. Mukai seems to simply accept such as a fact of existence, and mortality...
Is simply the circle of life. Predator and prey. And in this encounter, he certainly does not feel to be the latter in the slightest.
Having showed who is the superior when it comes to physical force, and when it comes to physical defense, Mukai lets out another roaring laugh that seems to merge with a heavy roll of thunder. The massive entity seeming to wait for the assault churning between those fingers.
Speed, Akuma may have... at least, in terms of evasion. But it is technique, training, meditation, the sacrifice and baptism of the soul in something less than human that should be what puts Akuma above a simple monster, should it not?
"WELL SAID... BUT ARE YOU WORTHY, HUMAN?!"
Suddenly Mukai lifts his leg high into the air. And then a great flash of white energy erupts down his leg, coiling like a serpent of lightning before his heel slams down. The entire island quakes a moment, before a massive pillar roars to life; easily fifteen feet around, the intricately-detailed item slithers up from the very stone. The loss of mass causes the ground to collapse slightly in a burst of dust, air whirling in dark, petrifying chi for a few moments after.
The projectile impacts it, destroying the majority, but the sheer force sends a literal hail of stone shrapnel towards Akuma as he closes in on Mukai...
Who only responds by slowly lifting his arms and spreading his stance. Utterly open and defenseless, and even inhibiting his capability to attack... not due to ignorance, but as a simple display that such petty concepts are not needed for a being such as himself...!!
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Akuma with Heavenly Shock.
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Akuma 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Mukai
It's like fighting a man in a castle. Akuma, moving fast in the wake of his own Shakunetsu Hadouken, keeps a guarded, box stance. He less moves and more stalks Mukai, much in the same way a lion might prowl after a wary buffalo in the serengeti. The dance of predator vs prey, though Mukai may feel it settled, does not register to Akuma in the same way. A comfortable thing, to be assured one's own superiority. But Akuma doesn't flinch or rile at Mukai when he refers to him as a human.
He just keeps moving forward.
His red light collides with the earth, impacting the pillar of stone and slowing against it. The power flexes mightily, the stone glowing red as his Hadou tries to burn right through it and onto and through Mukai in turn. However, the hand-borne blast explodes violently against the stone when the internal core makes contact with it, breaking through the stone and sending crippling shrapnel on towards Akuma, who is caught full force in the blast, blades of stone cutting across him and landing deep in muscled flesh, leading to an angry roar from the Master of the Fist.
This castle is a hard one to lay siege to..!
No verbal response comes for Mukai, because in the burning stone's wake, Akuma channels his power, raising a hand in front of his eyes and less 'walking' and more 'willing' himself through the interposing space between them at speeds that are hard to track with the naked eye. The rubble and stone are of no more impediment to him than the crush of waves against a shark's fin. Instead, he flanks Mukai in an instant, the grandiose open-handed stance of the titan treated with the same concern as any other fighter's. Akuma can read the flow in the earth, and the movement of that man's energy through it.
And he tires of it.
Flanking him, Akuma drops low, knifing the earth with his bared hand. The force of the blow shatters any stone that Mukai is not quick enough to reinforce as he has his body--and truthfully, he might need to to prevent Akuma from splitting a new canyon in the island. He attacks Mukai's strength head on--the earth itself. Following the line of a massive crack in the earth spread by his own assault, Akuma grabs for Mukai's ankle, and tries to break every bone in the titan's leg by rolling his back into him, and throwing him with murderous force straight up into the air.
Using his own strength of perception, Akuma intuits the goliath's connection with the earth. So he is trying to split the man in two by crippling first the earth, then his body. If Mukai finds himself thrown, he's going to find Akuma following him into the sky--will full intentions of beating him to within an inch of his life well before he hits the ground.
COMBATSYS: Mukai guards against Akuma's Power Throw.
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Akuma 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Mukai
Mukai is having trouble following the motions of Akuma; this truly says a lot about him. The monster's vessel is literally at it's maximum. Preparing this amount of Earth chi, he is saturated to the point of bursting... he can never say that he did not enter this fight at his absolute maximum. But even then... is this a gulf he can transcend? Is it a fight where he is only delaying the inevitable?
Such thoughts only excite him more than ever. The most true and pure test of his beliefs shall follow now, against his purest antithesis. No matter... this is no young chicken. Even if time is turned back a bit...
Akuma will still be there. And Mukai highly doubts he would be much weaker some years ago than he is now...!
When the earth begins to split, Mukai snarls and suddenly flashes brighter, striking his hands into either side of the seam... which causes it to /stop./ In those moments, the desire to destroy from Akuma and the desire to abate such from Mukai are locked, a great earthquake rumbling through the entire island and causing massive waves to splash high. The storm sparks and brews harder, as the temporal energy leaking from the demonic figure only further adds to the calamity of two beings with chi far beyond what should exist in the natural world.
But then, in a ripple of shadows and supernatural movements, Akuma is upon him once more. His ankle immediately hardens, the clench only cracking more of that hardened carbon. Impressive reflexes for his size, to be sure. The same reinforcement along his tendons and bones saves him the utter destruction intended, but not being hurtled through the air as if he were weightless, and not a monolith of some tons standing taller than any being alive!!
Spiraling head over heels, Mukai only laughs, before twisting himself. "DO YOU THINK... THAT I NEED THE EARTH? I /AM/ THE EARTH!!"
Suddenly in a flash, a massive spear of stone a good two meters long erupts into Mukai's hand. With a roar he twists, hurtling it bodily towards Akuma, the air billowing behind as it attempts to spear him right in the chest as he rushes headlong towards the beast, the fight now taking place well above the quickly crumbling island!
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Akuma with Disruptor.
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Akuma 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Mukai
The earth and the killing intent clash deep inside the island, launching columns of sea foam miles into the air from the tremor the island shows deep in her womb when Akuma and Mukai's powers collide within it. It is at this moment that Akuma decides that this battle was worth his trip, and worth his time. This one fights as if he has prepared his entire life for a battle such as this. Mukai's strength is worth shattering on the way to finding the one who brings even him to heel...!
Even with the titan launched aloft, the demon does not celebrate. While another opponent might have had their leg crushed by the force of his nage, Akuma knows even in the instant it took to throw him into the sky that the elemental savior of the stone was able to react in time. Truly, a fearsome defense...! The very idea of it causes Akuma's blood to boil in rage... and that rage is something the master savors. Bracing on a knee against the shattered earth, the island is still quaking from the clash of their mutual powers when Akuma launches himself into the air after Mukai, the thick ropes of his obi shuddering with the wind's passage.
It is no different when the colossal blade of stone and force spear through Akuma's middle. Struck down by the massive force, Akuma is knocked from his almost-perfect form into a tumbling stray thing, his meteoric rise checked and slowed only by the massive weight dragging on him. Uncontrolled, Akuma tumbles through the air end-over-end after Mukai, defenseless for only a moment as the titan rushes him.
It is the only moment Akuma will allow.
The spire of stone imbedded a full meter into Akuma's middle cracks when Akuma's ragged musculature stretches and flexes around it, powerfully tightening around it. The weakness is enough for Akuma to dash it into halves and pebbles with a chop, the added weight no longer having any bearing on his control. In that moment, Akuma whirls, placing a foot onto one of the discarded pieces of stone, and kicking off of it, reducing the rock to powder. The force causes the rain to pulse away from Akuma's rising attack for at least 40 meters all around in a whirling nova effect. Because the truth is, Akuma has already begun to spin.
"You are the earth?" Akuma snarls, recognizing language.
"... Then be cut smooth by the surge of my attack...!!"
As Mukai drops towards him, Akuma unleashes a single kick that churns the pulsing rain into a whirling tsunami around his body, channelling it all into a single plowing blade around him. He is no longer a creature of momentum, but of absolute control in the sky, flying after the titanic warrior as quick and as sure as the guillotine comes for the neck. Dark lightning trails from the blade of his foot, and as he comes for Mukai, the sky cracks open, a network of lightning subsumed with endless black. With an extremely powerful whirlwind kick, Akuma will hit Mukai with carrier-splitting force, and if he does, the strength of the impact will be enough to split the clouds for miles behind him, and leave a dark 'TEN' kanji seared into the night sky in a haze of blood.
COMBATSYS: Akuma successfully hits Mukai with Tenshou Kaireki Jin.
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Akuma 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Mukai
Indeed, in all of Mukai's time in this world since returning, Akuma is the only one to last this long against him without grievous wounds. This is not his complacence against Duke, or his mental hesitation against Daniel and Noboru. No; he is at his peak, knowing every second, every heartbeat, is the line between life and death, victory and defeat. Although they may battle as if this was even, at any second the tide could change irrevocably to either side.
"HAHAHA!!" Mukai forms a great boulder behind him, bracing his feet upon it as the effortless materialization crackles, in the shape of a great giant's head. Kicking off, he sends it hurtling in a spiral behind, launched directly towards Akuma as he remains knocked off-balance by the assault. His right hand petrifies from the forearm to the newly clawed fingers.
"BLEED!!"
As the impaled stone is destroyed -- something that should have left a mortal wound upon any other -- Mukai strikes with all his fury, bringing down an incredible slash. But such is intercepted by the heel of Akuma's foot. An explosive tension and sudden inward eruption of chi causes the initial strike to feel harder than any mountain Akuma has tested his fists against.
"...!!"
Downwards Mukai hurtles, spiralling head over heels before crashing into a crater. Deep, deep within the womb of the island. When he stops, he has little clue how far he was struck beneath the ground. But slowly grins, through teeth thoroughly bloodied. A heavy series of dents are emblazoned on his body, still glowing white hot from the strength of Akuma's blows.
Yes. It must be like this...! He can tell. This man's fists...
Could reach Saiki...!!
There's a sudden explosion of force. A roar echoes into the storming sky, as a good hundred meters around Mukai is annihilated, the fragments of stone hurtling like comets so far into the sky they vanish, wisps of remaining clouds impaled and drawn long. The very cohesion of the thunderous response is now in question, as if the pair have now even dismissed the pain of the earth, and natural law, in their feud.
Mukai stands there, raising his hands slowly.
"I felt that... just a little, though..."
And then he suddenly brings up his hands, grasping the air and /twisting/ down, striking both fists upon the soil. All of the stones far overhead... stop dead. An intense gravity claims them, before each manifests into a slender pillar.
And a great rain of shooting stone stars starts to descend, whistling high as one, two, six, a dozen, all aim to strike into Akuma with relentless fury, growing faster and faster as his synnergy with the Earth draws them to their target...!!
COMBATSYS: Akuma parries Mukai's Terrestrial Shock!
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Akuma 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Mukai
The meteor falls to earth, carving in her a new gash which will take decades, if not centuries, to heal. That is, if this island even survives the products of their limitless rage. Striking him was like striking an iron mountain. This titan has the strength of not one peak, but all of them--and even though Akuma dealt him a blow that shatters forests, he knows that Mukai is not dead. Good. That is good.
His blood has not yet begun to truly boil..
The Master of the Fist lands on the earth some ways away in a full combat crouch. His landing is heavy, but his toll upon the cradle of Gaia is miniscule compared to the cripplingly deep furrow scored by the master of stone. Bleeding from the godly blow struck through his middle, Akuma still stands. Without comment, he moves towards the impact crater, bearing the simple attitude of a man wielding a sword moving in to finish a wounded opponent. He has the resolve of one without theatrics, one committed completely to the kill.
For all of the show of strength Akuma can purvey, still at the end of it all will be God and Akuma's fist, and nothing else.
In front of Akuma's approach, Mukai annihilates the earth, grading it level and sending rock stabbing into the stratosphere. Without flinching, still Akuma walks. He clambers over the edge of the crater and slides down it, kicking up dust trails from the edges of his zori. The titan brings up his hands and hits the earth, recalling all of the pillars towards Akuma. And still Akuma moves towards Mukai. Tons of stone begin to fall towards him, great pillars slamming into and spearing the earth around him, just narrowly missing Akuma. Trying to land a blow on Akuma is like trying to hit a demon's shadow--and still he approaches his target. The stone begins to cluster before him, and Akuma lays waste to it with his fists, turning his hip and shoulder into running sledgehammer blows that shatter the murderous wall before him like glass. Still he comes.
Akuma begins to gather white power in his hand, whirling through and cutting down another pillar, his movements beginning to blur as he cuts down the distance between himself and Mukai mercilessly, the same as the storm that peals around them. He turns off one strong foot into a short pounce, leaping into the air over Mukai. His bloody form is shrouded in the harsh shadow cast by the light from his cocked hand, and only his glowing red eyes can be seen.
"Then, choke on your own teeth."
Akuma unleashes his hadou in the apex of his demon's pounce, the white-hot explosive blast of light hurled from one hand, channelled with no more effort than the fall wind has in plucking the dead leaves from the trees. And when he reaches Mukai, it is with full force and authority that the glowing red Akuma fires his hadou directly into the titan's leering face.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Akuma's Gou Hadouken EX.
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Akuma 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mukai
Indeed, the fight is still only beginning to boil, despite having far surpassed the limits of most who are alive. Mukai is aware that Akuma is still only just getting started. How long has he kept his true power buried deep within...? Waiting eternal for a true opponent who can push him to the limits? Although he may have thought only the path of Satsu no Hadou would possibly create a worthy foe, there have been two exceptions...
Gen, the heartless assassin, and Gouken, his own brother.
Is there a third, the purity of might from this huge figure? Does that imply that the Killing Fist is not the one, true absolute, if others can dare stand eye to eye with him time and time again...?
Again and again, those brutal pillars impact the ground, Akuma naught but a blur navigating the treacherous terrain created. Only for him to suddenly shift before him, and launch a point-blank blast of energy that strikes true. A great ball of roaring hellfire blossoms in the sky, Mukai forced to take a step backwards...
But only a step.
"Hah... hahahah...!! Yes. If you want to defeat me... ONLY POWER WILL DO IT...!" His face is sheathed in stone once more, smouldering though it might be. His muscles tense, form bulging as he suddenly draws in even more power from the Earth. Not enough. It's not enough...!
Suddenly there's a large CRACK, like a glacier splitting. Running across Mukai's pectoral is a sudden line, which begins to spew out white fire. A look of pain is upon him, having surpassed what his body can hold, like a balloon with a pinhole leak.
But still the ground begins to roar, feet merging with the stone ground as his flaring leylines glow even brighter, thrusting his fists to the heavens and roaring yet again. Seismic eruptions send massive pillars and slabs of earth and broken terra-formed stone jutting up, sending trees and vegetation flying as the sea begins to whirl in a vortex all about their massive battlefield, the disrupted storm slowly reforming and beginning to cyclone as well overhead...
The true battle... has begun!
COMBATSYS: Mukai gathers the power of the Earth!
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Akuma 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Mukai
This is the sort of battle that Akuma has been looking for...!!
No mercy and no boundary. He has meted his blows carefully, measuring the potential of his opponent, but his eyes have not seen a single weakness in the savior of the stone. Even when he has let loose with a touch of his strength, a taste that would have broken the sort of men that bring armies to their knees, this servant has only betrayed the slightest of cracked armor. Even now, taking his hadou directly to his skull, the man stands before him laughing as if he'd simply told him some great joke.
It isn't something Akuma is used to, to fail at the destruction of his opponent.
The force of his blow sends his body back; the demon doesn't fight it, sensing the strength still left in Mukai's stance, and determining his course to only be a waste of his time. A blow that doesn't kill the opponent in a battle such as this is a disrespect to all the blows previous. Landing on one foot, Akuma plants his other surprisingly lightly, tilting his chin upwards in appraisal of the mountain sage as the hairline fissure forms on Mukai, spewing white fire. Red eyes burn with intent and recognition.
The earth quakes, and even the supreme master of the fist has to adjust his stance just to stay standing. His face twists into a subtler aggression--one that finds the upwelling of devastation on the island nothing else but another obstacle seperating him from his opponent. The air suddenly thick with the taste of salt from the whirling sea, a plateau begins to form underneath Akuma, raising him on a slab of earth supported by the jutting stone from below. The raging demon narrows his eyes.
"You give up everything for this battle. Your master, your strength, your very life!!"
He can tell that the upwelling of power within the stone sage is unnatural, perhaps even deadly.
"A greater potential for my killing intent to wet its blade does not exist amongst your peers."
He knows this; those who give up their own safety for the chance to battle beyond the apex of their own power would not have permitted any other to fight--Akuma understands the mind well. Mukai would have already killed any other short of his own master to fight this battle, with the level of conviction he's already shown to him. It is doubtless that the Satsui no Hadou is strongest preeminent to all in Akuma's own mind. The power that Mukai levels against him is frightening, cowing to another man. But Akuma--his only question is if he understands his art enough to utterly annihilate the force that stands before him. A great battle!!
"For that conviction... I will show you the devastation of this style...!!"
Akuma marshals every dark force the earth has to offer, slipping back and slamming the ball of his foot into the ground, entering the iron horse stance. Every muscle in his body strings as taut as the rope around his hands. Fists balling, long red lines begin to draw off of Akuma's mantle. Underneath the slab of earth he perches upon, spires of stone crack and glow red. The air grows dry and hot, parching the tongue to a slab of leather in the throat. The mist in the air dries away in the lurid heat surrounding Akuma, evaporating in ways that make his body seem indistinct and vaporous. He growls deeply, the tension and gravel in his voice the same as boulders falling down the mountain. The force from Akuma makes the sky feel cramped.
The heat is the same as being burned in the fires of Hell.
COMBATSYS: Akuma charges his next attack!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Akuma 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Mukai
"Such is the path of strength. You embrace it. All of it...!! If you are destroyed..."
Another fracture appears on Mukai's cheek, spewing out another burst of white flame. But his grin only seems to widen, roaring as he beats his chest with both hands hard enough to ring in the air like the drums of war, slightly denting even his impervious flesh.
"YOU ARE TOO WEAK!! Control it, or be consumed!! You understand, do you not?! Perhaps more than any other I will ever fight!!"
And then Mukai begins to charge forward, each step rumbling upon the ground in a growing frenzy. His right hand flares, spreading his fingers as a shimmer of stone erupts across, turning the points to sharp edges. Energy runs along, bolstering his power even further.
"Technique... it is but a road to power. I do not wish to see your 'technique'. I wish to see your destructive potential. Whether it from the Satsu no Hadou, or the power of the Earth, or a century meditating atop a mountain, it matters not to me...!! Unlike that one-armed fool, you will grant me a proper battle. And I will not DISAPPOINT!"
It's then that Mukai stamps down, looming over Akuma with his massive frame, a monolith of twisted, burning black stone. His lower garments tattered and shredded by the fight and his growth, one arm hefting upwards. Muscles bulge in preparation. His every motion... it's true. There's nothing in this. No rotation of hips. No breathing patterns. Nothing.
Just those bulging muscles, suddenly descending with horrific force to try and slam upon Akuma's face as he prepares his assault.
Behind him, a sudden series of brutal stone spears erupt out, intending to drive him bodily into -- and /through/ -- the stone obstacle, and drive him so hard upon the ground he is likely to be sent deep within a fissure of his own, adding another split to the badly scarred island!!
COMBATSYS: Akuma blocks Mukai's Wrath of the Earth.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Akuma 1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Mukai
"Hrmph!" Akuma acknowledges Mukai's sentiment only in the barest of fashions; he does not disagree, and for the supreme master of the fist, that much is all there is or can ever be. If you can't handle the tidal wave of power, then it should by all rights destroy you. But Mukai's declarations rises his ire in more than one way. Breaking his iron horse stance, he plants his feet into the ground in a full fighting stance, the force and authority of the motion shattering the stone crags supporting his narrow perch, brittle from the upswell of hellish energy that now crawls across his frame. It causes the slab to crumple under his feet, and dropping him until he is level with Mukai's charge, as if he wished to meet him head on.
Akuma regards his opponent with equal parts respect and derision.
"THERE ARE NO ROADS! There is only one path to the ultimate strength... the will to kill!! Anything else is pretentious trash that will be discarded before the storm of merciless chaos... the chaos that my Hadou perfected!!"
Akuma roars as Mukai meets him directly, sheathed in black stone and striking with a spearhand of obsidian. The blow is cataclysmic, the shock of it folding the stone on which he stands like so much origami paper. His face twisted into a monstrous visage of effort and rage, the oncoming landslide of stonewrought flesh and muscle forces Akuma's comparitively small frame back, his zori squealing as he absorbs the shock of the blow, spiderweb fissures crawling all along behind the warrior, testament to the force of the juggernaut. Spears shatter against his back as he slowly leans into the onslaught. But the titanic blow is not absorbed by his face--it is absorbed by his guard, muscle and bone straining at their utmost to withstand the force. Akuma is not a man of stone. He cannot turn into a mountain at will to absorb that force. He still bleeds on the point of that man's spearhand.
But the blow that he absorbed could have ripped apart a building.
His flesh might as well be carved out of diamond for the punishment he can take.
"It has been the same throughout the centuries," Akuma growls, his voice twisted with effort. "Enough chatter. A true warrior will only understand this..." He says, slowly raising his free hand. Red power trails from it.
"... the might of heaven residing in my fist."
When Akuma strikes back, he hits everything. Broadly speaking, he aims for Mukai's lower body, in an arcing downward punch that continues on down to the earth itself. It is only one strike--a blow strong enough to bury his fist up to the wrist in the ground at his feet, and the loud crack of force from the air being ripped open from the speed of it is the only sound one can hear. The sound is so loud that it might be confused for a thunderclap--that is because it is. Akuma's strike rips the clouds above him open, dark lightning fro ma black heaven following the path of his fist directly into the ground.
And then a white shockwave explodes from every point of Akuma's strike.
Being hit by Akuma's blow would be like being hit with the jewelled spear that created Japan. A normal man would simply dissintegrate before the attack. Akuma is not attacking to damage Mukai's body--he is attacking through him, to punch straight through the titan and leave nothing left. The shockwave that emanates from the blow is ruinous. Leaving only partially molten rock in its wake, it spreads out, scouring the ground to its bedrock. For as far as the eye can see, trees, grass, peat--it all vaporizes instantly. The wave is enough to push back the tides.
It is enough to split the entire island into six parts.
COMBATSYS: Mukai just-defends Akuma's Empowered Kongou Kokuretsu Zan!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Mukai
"You are wrong... It is not the will to kill... whether your opponent lives or dies means nothing. It is... to have no RESTRAINT... to always fight at your STRONGEST... even if your opponent is reduced to dust!!" Mukai roars out in defiance. "Mercy... MERCY is the great weakness in battle!! AND YOU WILL FIND NONE HERE!!"
For a few moments, Akuma would feel fully that sheer power. It is as if the island they stand upon has vanished, and within Mukai's grasp all that weight has settled. Even with his technique, his countless practice, in terms of sheer physical strength... he's beneath the titan.
But what does that matter? He didn't begin this path to destroy all opponents in arm wrestling.
He did it to simply destroy all opponents...!
When Akuma's body flows into that brutal punch, immediately Mukai reacts. Both of his forearms flash with diamond-hard carbon, rippling an inch thick. A massive pillar of similar woven carbon-composite erupts up, interposed between the hulking titan and Akuma's attack.
Both of them barely suffice.
A great explosion shatters the obstacle, one that should have been by all rights nigh-indestructible to mortal might. The fist impacts that crossed guard dead center, a great series of cracks rippling through Mukai's summoned coat of arms.
"Muoh...!!"
And then he goes hurtling backwards, dismissed from Akuma's presence. He lands on his upper shoulders, ripping through the ground before tumbling head over heels, clear off a cliff where he crashes and rolls down the side of the island. Bladed fingers rip into the ground, stopping him at last.
A deep fistprint is in his right forearm... but that is all. He managed to absorb the strike, Akuma attacking with genuine intent. There is unlikely to be another.
And then Mukai is in the air, hurtling up with another laugh. Akuma could tell at the point he sent the other man flying his assault was nullified. Indeed, it took all his personal power, all the power he's stolen, and the strength of the earth...
But how many in history can claim to have done such?
Another crack is up his arm, bleeding out white energy as well. Cackling madly, he then lands heavily atop one of the six fragments. The island is beginning to sink. Deep within, the very foundation has been shattered, and the blow from Akuma has begun the irrevocable.
"EXCELLENT... EXCELLENT... But I do not fight alone...!"
And then suddenly Mukai is looming before Akuma. Before, he had never demonstrated speed. And this couldn't be called that, in the traditional sense. The great, explosive force in his wake, sending massive boulders hurtling into the sky... strength. The explosive strength in his legs send him launching forward at nearly the speed of sound, only to catch himself digging in his toes and ripping forward.
"FEEL THE EMBRACE... OF THE EARTH...!!"
And almost lovingly, he attempts to snap his arms closed about the fighting shinigami...!!
COMBATSYS: Akuma parries Mukai's Wrath of Gaea!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/---====|>>>>>>>\-------\1 Mukai
"ENOUGH. WORDS!" Akuma rages to the open air, cutting into Mukai's arguments.
"We will see which road leads to Hell. Let the inferior warrior's way burn on the pyre!!"
There can be no understanding between lions and men. No matter how close their ideologies may be, there is no part of Akuma that is friendly towards his opponent. No matter how well Mukai performs against him, there is no part of Akuma that is impressed, envious or even remotely kin to Mukai's sentiment. His is an alien spirit, vastly and greatly intolerant of his enemy's spirit. There is the sense that Akuma is becoming dissatisfied with Mukai's still drawing breath. You can read it in his will. Akuma is not satisfied with killing Mukai--that would just be bloodlust, the mansion of the perverse. Akuma wants to destroy Mukai in every possible way. It is the spirit of the thing itself to cut down all factors of the opponent, and Akuma's spirit fills Heaven with his limitless chaotic wrath.
There is no part of Akuma that does not cut.
In the end, Akuma goes through everything. His fist lays waste to both pillar and gauntlet alike, tearing apart all armor on the way to crushing Mukai, and the island beyond. When Akuma splits the island into its component fragments on the back of his country-splitting blow, he felt his fist impact against something--and not destroy it utterly. His hand hovers in open air, between landmasses in the fractured schism at the heart of heaven's cut, Akuma's head inclines sharply to look up after Mukai, whose guard he struck, but didn't die, instead tumbling in the dirt and laughing like a schoolboy rolling down a hill with a new toy. Red eyes narrow dangerously, Akuma stands straight, a grim expression knit into his monstrous face.
For a moment, the master of the fist disbelieves.
It's becoming increasingly obvious that fighting the sage of stone is kin to battling the strongest mountain. The weight that Mukai levies on his body is the same as being at the center of the earth, and hitting him is no different than trying to cut diamond. Akuma has not tasted a battle such as this in some time... it is worth his fighting at every limit of his ability--for this person who gave up everything to face death at all angles. The number of people who could even begin to resist his inevitable annihilation Akuma could count on a single hand.
Water froths into the wound Akuma cut into the island, who bleeds the same as any man might bleed. He stands on one of the fragmented landmasses, patiently waiting for Mukai to show his face again. As he waits, he slips his arms free of his dark gi, baring his upper body to the air. It is the only sign that Akuma is even beginning to feel the stress of battle. His dark tan body is a network of fresh slashes, welts and tears, the aftermath of Mukai's godlike battering--the titan's sacrifices have not been inconsequential. The pain feels good.
He hasn't felt such in some time.
Looking up for a single instant at the boulders hurtling into the sky, Akuma hasn't a chance to respond when Mukai sucks him into his viselike grasp, his body being sucked up and crushed against Mukai's chest. In his current, overcharged state, the titan is every bit Akuma's physical superior, possessing the strength and weight of infallible stone. -- But, Akuma has the speed of demons, and the might of heaven.
Though he is physically inferior to the titan, Akuma's technique outstrips Mukai's by leagues, and the last impression that the titan will have is Akuma breaking his hold trivially, one hand pressing into Mukai's throat, his other arm leveraging down against the titan's grip, his knee planting into Mukai's middle and his entire core flexing to worm out of the hold almost as soon as Mukai manages to lock him inside. But it's not exactly that. Akuma's not trying to worm free. He's just trying to touch the ball of his foot to the ground.
Though Akuma can break free of even the most titanic bear hug, he's not trying to free himself as much as he is trying to kill his opponent for his presumption!! If Mukai is still trying to fight Akuma by the time the ball of his foot touches the ground, Akuma is going to use that one point of liberty to lock Mukai into a grip of his own, and then launch himself and Mukai both into the air.
His movements are fast enough to seem to warp space. Akuma aims to break Mukai by spinning him bodily end-over-end with him in a skyborne hell wheel, fast and powerful enough to send the two blowing through the boulders still airborne, shattering them into pebbles. Only at the apex of the jump will Akuma himself choose to break the grip of four hands. If Mukai has not escaped, that break will send the savior of the stone plummeting into -- and potentially through -- one of the crumpled fragments of sinking island and into the water underneath it.
COMBATSYS: Akuma has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Mukai 1/-------/<<<<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Akuma successfully hits Mukai with Jigoku-guruma EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>-----\1 Mukai
"Hooo...? So you are a more pure beast and monster than me, warrior... you wish only to kill, with no reservations. Which of us is the apex predators...?! Indeed!! Words will never solve that quandry!" Okay, it's for damn sure that Mukai is excessively wordy. There's a reason everyone else in his group has always mocked him for it. The irony that the deep thinker and philosopher is also the one so focused on the base fundamentals of power, and nothing else. An easy mistake to make, but within such is no complexity. He is easy to understand, for those who know his goals and motivations. Strength, and Saiki. The second... Akuma might sense some strange chain or anchor by now, that if anything seems to be holding him back. It is subtle, invisible to any eyes but that of a fellow transcended God. But although he doesn't fear death, it is clear he has some duty. A duty that requires him to survive.
For now, that is an asset. It is driving him to a level Akuma demands, and one required to face him. But if he started to fail... what then? Disgusting memories of Gen's own weakness finally bared might stir more rage than Mukai is prepared to handle...
He does not fear death, but he cannot die. How will this juxtaposition unfold in the rest of the match?
"Such badges... is each the final mark of a desperate foe? Their last act in facing you? I shall leave one which shall make every flickering flame before you seem like a whisper...!!"
But to think, a man in a situation where only strength can get through... finds that strength through something else. Mukai has not underestimated technique. No. That is the mark of a fool. He knew full well the tens of thousands of hours behind every futile blow from Sagat. And he respected it. Instead, he is a beast who moved to make such null, and useless...
And Akuma has defied him.
Before he truly comprehends what takes place, Mukai impacts a corner of the island, hurtling through stone and tumbling head over heels, as if it were mere dust. He's plunged deep within the ocean, coming to a stop a few hundred meters beneath the raging storm overhead, large rolling boulders of ruined island churning by. Hah. He felt that. In this invincible carbon-laced body, the very power of the Earth overwhelming him, he felt it. He did not think it was possible. He did not think a creature outside Saiki existed that could endure him at his peak. Magaki, always complacent in his natural power... an insult. Had he trained and worked, he would have been the second by a large margin...!!
Suddenly the ground begins to split and crack beneath Akuma, before a great burst of spikes and stone hurtles upwards, sending another quarter of broken trees and sloughing foundation and stone collapsing in a great white froth into the sea. Suddenly gouts of lava burst out, hitting the water and beginning to hiss, as the very lifeblood of Gaea is brought forth now in the storming terrain.
Mukai's true attack comes from behind. He had hid his presence marvelously; by flooding the area with so much power, the man seemed to come from everywhere. Thrusting a clawed hand through a football-field sized hunk of rock, he attempts to grasp Akuma by the face in a deathgrip.
"HERE. NO WORDS, AS YOU REQUESTED...!!"
COMBATSYS: Akuma endures Mukai's Execution!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Akuma 1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1 Mukai
Fingers dig harder into Akuma's skull than he has likely ever felt in his life. In a heartbeat the pair hurtle like a comet through the still-raining debris of his assault's shroud, breaking through before hitting the ground with catastrophic force. Half of the Shinigami of the Fist's face is now petrified, running down his shoulder and arms.
Again for likely the first time in Akuma's life, he might feel helpless beneath the weight and strength of another. Although he resists the absolute incapacitation of a lesser man, he can do nothing but watch with that intense, almost slow motion view from his good eye as one arm rears back...
And then he drives his fist, unguarded, right into Akuma's stomach, bound in bladed black diamond. The entire island jumps, sending new cracks and geysers of lava hurtling up in all directions. Sprays of water whirl with steam, and the rumbling terrestrial shock of the impact causes massive cracks and fractures dozens of meters around amidst the rubble.
But... something feels wrong. Did he try to overpower the assault and fail...? None can resist his invasive chi -- the fact he is utterly open in the aftermath should be meaningless...!!
Of course, no one could accuse Akuma of being mindless. The greatest battle of Akuma's life is the one he wages within himself, to tap into the Satsui no Hadou, to give himself over, but hold back just enough that he can find his true death battle. If Akuma were to release himself--give himself fully--over to the Satsui no Hadou, there would be nothing left for him but battle. That is a day that Akuma truly lusts for. There would be no greater satisfaction. But he is a creature of the mountain's integrity; he will not waste the true extents of the Killing Fist on anything unworthy to feel its wrath. Such is his goal as the gateway to true violence on this sickening limp-wristed earth..
The bare-chested Akuma's fists tighten as Mukai comments on his bleeding wounds, threatening to leave the greatest mark upon him of all.
Akuma's eyes narrow, glowing a livid red.
He doesn't speak anymore, because there is nothing left that he can't say with his fists. The skyborne hell wheel atomizes a fragment of the island with the stone sage's skull, leaving Akuma to drift in the air for a few vertiginous seconds before finally smashing into the ground, his sandals just barely holding up to the punishment. He lands solidly, bleeding off his momentum directly into the earth underneath him. He knows that much wasn't enough.. and he closes his fists once more, preparing for another assault.
His expression is grim, but not angry.
... but he is looking for more.
There is no way Akuma could have predicted the angle of Mukai's next attack. Lava and spikes burst out from underneath the battlegrounds, forcing the master up into the air in a truly massive leap--he does so effortlessly, but his gaze sweeps quickly, searching for the angle of his target. He is wise to the ways of men who have lost blood. He knows exactly what's going on; Mukai is trying to blind him with the verve of cataclysm and an orgy of chaos. It works.
Akuma cannot determine the angle of Mukai's attack quickly enough. Or rather, is it that he doesn't actually want to? Mukai rips through an airborne hillside to snatch Akuma by the side of his face, coming just shy of crushing his skull with the upper limits of a viselike grip. The master of the fist hurtles into the air bonelessly, his momentum still carrying him into the sky. For a moment, he is helpless, feeling his thoughts numb as grey fingers of death crawl across his face and brow. The squealing enamel of his teeth slowly turn to a grind as his upper jaw fuses into granite, leaving the distinct taste of stone on his tongue...
Mukai has committed his every resource to this moment. And though it takes every ounce of Mukai's concentration and power to do so, there is nothing Akuma can do to defend against that powerful, insidious chi. It is a good feeling, to finally face something that he cannot think of any defense for. Inch by inch, even Akuma's skills will wane underneath that tide of chi, consumed by stone, and turning strength into simple rock. He cannot reverse it. Akuma will be obliterated. He is satisfied.
The stone sage has finally brought something before him that can kill the master of the fist.
It's only then that Mukai will notice that Akuma is already committed absolutely to his next blow.
The arc of Akuma's momentum, burgeoned on by the weight and force of the sage, only now begins to bleed off, because Akuma wills it. Suddenly, he turns in the air, trying to get a grip on Mukai by that transmogrifying arm. If he can, it'll simply be over. Akuma warps space as he suddenly drops to the earth, trying to flip the savior of stone underneath him. He's targetting the ball and socket of Mukai's shoulder with the knife's edge of his free, unassailed hand. Akuma has already begun his cataclysmic attack.
In a reality-warping drop, he is going to cut through every airborne piece of debris between them with Mukai's body. And then he is going to purify the sage, the island, and everything in the sky with a single blow that strikes clear through to the blood of the earth.
COMBATSYS: Akuma knocks away Mukai with Misogi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Mukai
"...?!"
Mukai knew then. Akuma has a weakness, unfathomable that it might seem to the common man. It is that he is not particularly adept at taking hits. Techniques and skills that might suffice against mundane fighters will not do here. An unprotected, complete blow from Mukai would shatter diamond, crush it to dust, and even a man of the demon's level would end up with his torso caved in and naught but a final gout of blood.
The victory should have been his. Or perhaps it was. Akuma acknowledging a blow able to kill him... how many people in history have ever managed this feat? Has it even happened, since he struck down Gouken and set out on his lonely journey, climbing a mountain so imperious that none could do more than flounder upon the bottom?
Although the God of the Earth may have managed in his imperious design. He still strikes Akuma, although the twist and roll cause it to shift. Not the fatal center mass; but probably a wound that will not be forgotten. There's a growl, a twist, beginning of a defense...
And then the rest of the island is gone.
A great impact rings out, like the moon crashing upon the earth. A shockwave of power flies out in all directions, and the pair descend in an ever-growing indentation into the earth. Stone chaffs away, dark purple blood pouring out, before they finally stop, deep within a cavern of their own creation.
Water begins pouring in, splashing down around the pair. Mukai's left arm is gone. It has been shred off, the blow ripping through his shoulder and down over his chest. The bright flare of energy seems to stem and ebb now, cracks going through him once more.
It is done. Mukai's body has been crushed beneath him. As predicted, if not as quickly and as simply as Akuma may have expected. An impressive display.
And it is something else which suddenly causes his eyes to snap open, and his grin return.
"Ha... hahahah... you are indeed the mightiest mortal to walk this world... you--do you still insult me... so much as to hold me back?!"
Suddenly an eruption of stone spikes flash out, attempting to drive Akuma backwards as the hulking figure slowly gets back up. His body is heavily malformed, but suddenly his eyes flash, and with a great roar the flow of power rekindles. A rugged scab of twisted stone forms over the stub of his left limb, spewing out spatters of purple blood one final time.
"I... CANNOT DIE HERE... THIS SHALL BE... YOUR TOMB!!"
Suddenly Mukai lifts his right hand. A single mote of energy flits within it. And then, the world flashes. It is like time freezes; every ounce of his chi rushes outwards, and his leylines go dark. A great, meter-thick eruption of cragged stone rushes outwards in all directions, entombing and crushing all in it's wake, great pulsing waves that slather more and more of his petrifying force. The very hole above slowly twists and falls closed, to leave the pair sealed in a personal oubliette.
And then with a last, final cry, all of the stone constructs and explodes into fragments, intent on crushing whoever might be caught within. Staggering backwards, the huge figure pants heavily, clinging to consciousness with effort. Dull thrums of power now, the majority seeming to leak from his wound rather than be retained within.
Everything. That was everything he had. An attempt to, as much defiant as anything, erase Akuma. Saiki... has a task of him. He cannot fail. Death is less to him, than letting that man down.
And that ruthless devotion is what roused the defeated man for this last, violent stand...!
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Akuma with Netherworld Agony.
[ \\\\ < > ////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Mukai
----------------------------<[1;37mPaste from Mukai[1;34m>-----------------------------
vs. Terry: Is there a tomorrow that can exceed today?
vs. Khushnood: The day must end... Follow it's example!
vs. Dong Hwan: Such a fine night.
vs. Freeman: Toodle-doo!
vs. Gato: Enough suffering. Die!
vs. Hokutomaru: I'll teach you the joy of an instant death.
vs. Hotaru: Dying innocent is such a luxury...
vs. Tizoc: I love a slaughter!
vs. B.Jenet: Don't fight it. Die...
vs. Jae Hoon: Why do you hang on to such a pitiful life?
vs. Kevin: Aren't you dead yet?
vs. Rock: Boy, do you know death?
vs. Grant: Accept my gift...a gorgeous death.
vs. Kain: Dying is a learning experience, too.
-----------------------------<[1;37mPaste to Japan[1;32m>------------------------------
And there, as the God of Earth's broken body lay before Akuma, entombed in a chasm of cooling stone slowly being flooded by the sea, Akuma crouches deep into the blow, letting the cords of his muscles remember the perfection of his strike. A creature such as Mukai represents the ultimate challenge to one of Akuma's strength--an indomitable wall of power, a talentless savant who harnesses power like a man dams a river. You cannot reason with him with fancy moves and gimmickry.
One cannot placate the mountain with a dance.
Only the purity of the killing intent could even begin to split the earth such as Akuma has. His purifying blow seperated the offending arm from Mukai's body, keeping Akuma from turning entirely to stone. Even now, half of the master of the fist's face is limned with icy shards of granite, turning one of his glowing red eyes a bright, livid purple. A normal human would have died at that much--no one at any other level can survive their head being turned into rock. He alone has the will and the "lethal intent" to survive right through until the end.
"Life... devotion... purpose... meaningless." Akuma snarls, standing slowly before the body.
"All pales before the strength of the fist!!!"
--!!!
Akuma is forced back just as Mukai awakens, his entombed eye leaving a hazy trail of violet chi with his retreat. Those rocks have no chance of impaling him, but they are regardless an effective defense to allow the savior of the stone to rise once more. And Akuma's fists tighten anew, in this sarcophagus of stone. Eyes widening, Akuma is shocked that his purifying blow failed to kill this man, and has little defense against the waves of petrifaction emanating from Mukai's hand. He is entombed instantly, slathered in waves of liquid stone, hardening fast and tight, until Akuma has no recourse but to be near obliterated as the massive crag shatters with him at the heart of it. His body ripped to shreds, Akuma roars, loud and long, as he hits the ground, his body trailing dust and red vapor.
This thing... it is not a thing that his current level of technique can defeat, Akuma dimly realizes, in a drunken haze of pain. A mountain he cannot overcome. In the realm of strength vs technique, unadulterated strength will always win. It is the nature of all things. He realizes that Mukai is right. Might overcomes all. No matter how much it is his wish to savor the moment... Akuma cannot merely dance with this creature. Otherwise, he will inevitably die.
There is only one power that he must tap into to defeat this thing.
"I ... do not fear death," Akuma utters.
"...DEATH FEARS ME!!"
Summoning every ounce of his strength, Akuma rises. Energy trailing from every limb, he rises. Black force cascading from every pore, he rises. Whirling into speeds that tear apart the rope binding his fists, he rises. Lifting off into the air with forces that vaporize his zori, he rises. He aims his punch down the centerline of Mukai, and frees himself of the limitations of his previous concern. He will break free of everything as he rises. In their sinking tomb, Akuma will attack relentlessly until there is nothing left of him. Because this thing before him... is worth no less resolve. Even trying to split Mukai in two.. it's only a distraction for the forces Akuma taps into, on the edge of life and death.
He taps into it... the absolute killing intent with no equal.
COMBATSYS: Akuma can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Mukai 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Mukai interrupts Gou Shouryuken from Akuma with Terrene Tower.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Mukai 0/-------/---====|
"Hah... it seems at the end... you become philosophical, demonic one...!" Mukai states in a grating snarl. Indeed. Both of them have taken a mortal wound. Both of them should have been struck down by it. Yet for different reasons, such limitations were transcended in the cusp of the battle's finale.
"Death... is the end..." Mukai staggers forward, lifting up his foot with a snarl of his twisted, Oni-like face. "Only for the weak..."
And then, he feels his blood go cold. That energy... surging through Akuma. What-- What is that? He had thought the oppressive well within Saiki had been the summit. Indeed, fighting Akuma, he had thought there was traces of something beyond. As if he were a floodgate, carefully portioning out energy of a greater magnitude.
There's only a heartbeat. The heel stamps down, and a great column of stone hurtles forward. It impacts Akuma almost instantly right in the midsection, and in a hurtling whistle the massive pillar reaches the jagged ceiling overhead, multiple sharp stalagmites exploding upon the back of the other man as he's mashed against it with force to kill a dozen lesser men.
Only then does Mukai glance to his stomach. Four black imprints are sizzling in his flesh. A touch. Akuma literally only /touched/ him before being dismissed... and he can feel a deep, horrific pain throbbing in his being. Skin, that had resisted even his mightiest blows, falling away like ash before blood oozes out.
"What... was that?!" he states, coughing heavily and grasping his stomach with his good hand. "No... you are too dangerous. A monster like you... I cannot allow to face Saiki...!!"
With a roar, Mukai taps further into his power. His leylines blaze like the sun, and a sudden series of slender, sharp crystalline spheres erupt from the ground, slamming into the pillar that was pinning Akuma to the ceiling. A brutal barrage, before he twists and slams his fist downwards, causing the entire ceiling to collapse in a massive avalanche and impact before him, hundreds of tons of force intending to turn Akuma into nothing more than a smear.
Why...
Why in that moment... did Mukai feel that Akuma had finally showed his true fangs? Had he not the entire battle...? Impossible.
And what point is there musing on a corpse...?!
The battle is over almost before it began. Though he marshals his greatest strength, the tide of Akuma's rampage appears to have been checked instantly by Mukai's pillar, slamming into Akuma's midsection and sending the battlemonger straight into the ceiling, Akuma becoming dimly aware of the crack in his spine as a metric ton of rock seeks to slam him into the ceiling of jagged rock, a streak of his own blood raining from the sky. Pinning him hard against the ceiling, a hundred spheres batter his gory perch, before the entire rocky crag collapses on top of him, his body eclipsed by the rubble.
It would be the story of him, that much--the master of the fist, finally meeting a glorious end by the one god-like opponent who had prepared all his life to be regarded and acknowledged as 'superior' to even the greatest discipline. It would have been a glorious end to the story.
But there was a heartbeat's worth of hesitation in the way the god of the mountain reacted.
For an instant, Mukai falters, thinking only of protecting someone else.
One heartbeat is enough. One instant is enough.
There is no cataclysmic break from the rubble, no chokingly powerful wave to cast aside the debris like pebbles. No, in truth it's hard to believe he was ever buried at all. It begins as an electric sense, a tingle of energy in the air that teases and crackles across the gaping ashen wounds rent in Mukai only a moment ago. A force, choking and intense. Though the black sky is now open to all, it still feels as cramped as it was lodged in the heart of the island. That thing... it is subtle beyond anything else.
Akuma is simply there. There is no opportunity to think, or to do much of anything. He warps into being right before Mukai. He comes head on, and it is less that he approaches the savior of stone and more that the earth shrinks between them. There can be no escape between two fighters of this caliber... there can be no end but this. Akuma's hands stab out like spears, gripping Mukai by his water and metal meridians. The Savior of Stone can see him now, battered, bloodied, bare-chested, and hair shot through with white, the pure power of the force that he taps into. He will no longer be able to fight after this much.. but he won't need anything else. A mania consumes Akuma, an elemental force in and of itself. But it is not itself, uncontrolled anger. He is calmer than he has ever been. At the center of the hurricane, he is its eye.
The Shun Goku Satsu is the technique that will turns the enemy's own strength against themselves. Assuming a killing stance, Akuma will use himself as a conduit to expose the God of Great Stone to the Satsui no Hadou directly. It will turn that marauding, insidious chi of Mukai's against him. Every impure and negative impulse he has ever had, every weakness, every merciless moment and every hesitation he has ever indulged in will become the site of an angry oni. And those demons, in their heartless bargain with god, will tear Mukai's spirit apart like dogs fighting over a worn rug.
Akuma intends to drown Mukai in the Sanzu River, far from heaven.
"Feel your own weakness rise against you.... in this, the strongest technique!!"
Mukai tenses, feeling the strange, dark instinct. The instinct of an animal aware of a coming earthquake. A looming disaster. Far too late to do anything about it; cursed, perhaps, with the lucidity of those irrevocable seconds ticking down. He manages to twist towards Akuma as he shifts forward, coming at him as if some kind of ghost. Light leaves the world for him, dimming all around. A step backwards still seems to only draw Akuma closer in kind, eyes widening as he lifts up his arm defensively, body hardening as if at this point that might be some kind of guard.
"...Hah!" The last word to leave him. And Akuma does not see fear. A wild exasperation, a sense of sheer satisfaction... and if anything, regret and disappointment.
An eternity passes for him, as if each whip came with it's own story. How long was he thrust in that timeless void? How long was his spirit laid bare to an energy... one that feels both alien and familiar? Something beyond Orochi. Something beyond Time. It is... life. Death? Impossible to know.
But when the vortex of blackness parts, Akuma is left standing. Mukai remains upright for a moment, before blood erupts from countless cracks and fissures in his body. A hiss of energy leaves him like an ancient locomotive letting out built-up steam. He collapses to his knees, gurgling lightly before thumping face down, immediately forming an impressive pool of violet blood.
Only the dull, distant pulse of his leylines hints... he is not completely dead. No. Akuma could not say he survived; not a monster like him. He is defeated. But it seems although the grim reaper has cast a shadow, through some impressive tenacity his massive lifeforce was not shredded and absorbed. Perhaps some portion of it accepted him...
Or perhaps accepted the ruthless drive for a mission he placed above death.
In truth, Mukai has not held a life of sin and regret. Had he been walking on his path alone, it might have only baptized him to a greater realm of truth. Instead, those explosive wounds are caused by the very same force that kept him alive.
Saiki. He must... not fail Saiki...
Long, long minutes later, as the broken world comes back into focus, Mukai slowly opens one good eye. He can still feel the leyline of the Earth thrumming within his shattered form. Yes... it is the very technique he cast upon himself to battle Akuma that is now keeping him alive. The Earth itself. Although soon it will fade, and with it his lifeforce will snuff out of this shell.
Fate... he had always believed in such. He has surely wounded the other fighter too greatly to take down Saiki-sama. And as his good arm slowly pushes himself back upright, Mukai's eye casts to the distance. Where he can feel the dull pulse of a Sphere of Time.
Yes... Fate has granted him his own ultimate dream in this collapsing world.
To die for Saiki's vision...!! And the great mission that a future must be consumed to fufill!!
COMBATSYS: Mukai has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:45:26 09/20/2014 by Mukai, and last modified on 20:56:11 10/10/2014.